Alex Pretti’s parents said Tuesday the federal government is shielding the immigration enforcement officers involved in their son's killing, and no one from the government has reached out with any substantive information for nine months.
asserted
one → say → months
Michael and Susan Pretti called for the Department of Justice to hold accountable those who shot their 37-year-old ICE nurse son during President Donald Trump's ramp-up in deportations targeting Minnesota.
asserted
who → call → Minnesota
Federal prosecutors disclosed in recent court filings they had stopped sharing evidence with Minnesota authorities who are investigating the January killings of Pretti and Renee Good by federal officers.
asserted
who → disclose → officers
“The federal government went on TV and lied about Alex,” said Susan Pretti, his mother.
asserted
Pretti → go → Alex
“They tried to slander his memory to cover up their crime.
asserted
They → try → crime
Within moments of his Jan. 24 death, Trump administration officials sought to portray Pretti, a U.S. citizen and nurse at a veterans hospital, as an armed disruptor intent on doing harm to federal agents when he brought his own gun to a Minneapolis street where officers clashed with protesters.
asserted
officers → seek → protesters
Kristi Noem, the then-Homeland Security secretary, painted the Veterans Administration hospital nurse as a domestic terrorist who violently resisted federal agents.
asserted
who → paint → agents
Court records show he had no criminal record.
asserted
he → show → record
Video shot by bystanders that day showed Pretti only had a mobile phone in his hand.
asserted
Pretti → shoot → hand
No footage has since emerged showing him brandishing a weapon or attacking federal agents in the moments before he was killed.
asserted
he → emerge → moments
The Prettis spoke Tuesday at a news conference organized by an attorney representing the family, calling their treatment by the Trump administration “cruelty.”
asserted
Prettis → speak → administration
They said they decided to speak out after being “stonewalled” by U.S. Attorney General Todd Blanche and the top federal prosecutor in Minnesota, U.S. Attorney Dan Rosen.
asserted
they → say → Minnesota
“At every turn, they have ignored us, misled us, and shielded Alex’s killers,” said Michael Pretti, his father.
asserted
Pretti → ignore → killers
“We are a family who love this country.
asserted
who → love → country
We trust in the institutions of this country.
asserted
We → trust → country
We believe in the rule of law – and that people should be held accountable through that law.”
After months of reaching out to Rosen's office, the federal prosecutor agreed to meet with them in July.
asserted
prosecutor → believe → July
But the family and their attorney, Steve Schleicher, said that meeting raised more questions than answers, with Rosen refusing to provide even basic information about the status of the federal investigation into Pretti's death.
A spokesman for Rosen's office had no comment when reached by The Associated Press on Tuesday.
asserted
spokesman → say → Tuesday
The Department of Justice did not immediately respond to a request for comment on the Pretti family's remarks.
asserted
Department → respond → remarks
Minnesota officials sued the Trump administration in March for access to materials they said they needed to independently investigate the shootings of Pretti and Good.
asserted
they → sue → Pretti
The Trump administration has suggested that state prosecutors don’t have jurisdiction to investigate federal officers, while Minnesota officials have said they don’t trust the federal government to investigate itself.
uncertain
government → suggest → itself
The state is still seeking the cellphones of the officers involved in both shootings and recordings of key interviews.
asserted
state → seek → interviews
Pretti's parents recounted how they first learned of his death when they were called by a reporter for The Associated Press.
asserted
they → recount → Press
“We learned about his death from the media as we saw him being shot repeatedly in the back after helping a woman from his community, a fellow Minnesotan, who had been shoved to the ground viciously,” Michael Pretti said.
asserted
Pretti → learn → ground
“No one from the federal government called us on that horrible day, but they did go on TV to tell lies about Alex.
asserted
they → call → Alex
No one from the federal government has called us since.”
asserted
one → call → us
He said the videos of his son's killing haunt his family every day.
asserted
videos → say → family
“I think it haunts many Americans to see a U.S. citizen who was peaceful and in his community shot multiple times on the back, in the back, while on the ground,” the father said, calling his family heartbroken.
asserted
father → think → family
“We wish we didn’t have to be here,” he said.
asserted
he → wish → ?
“We wish Alex was alive.
asserted
Alex → wish → ?
We wish we were simply in Minneapolis to visit with Alex.
asserted
we → wish → Alex
For he and I to chat about cars, hiking, biking or anything that came to our mind.
asserted
that → chat → mind
This administration has taken that away from us forever.”
asserted
administration → take → us
The Aporia
